Huge power surplus threatens grid safety

The UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), that was finding it difficult to source electricity to meet the growing requirement till the other day, was left with a big surplus yesterday as heavy rain across the state resulted in the demand for power plummeting.

The UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), that was finding it difficult to source electricity to meet the growing requirement till the other day, was left with a big surplus on Monday as heavy rain across the state resulted in the demand for power plummeting.

The surplus was so huge that it could not be used up even after plugging in the entire load and not enforcing rostering in the cities and the villages. “Against the 12000 MW demand in the state till the other day, the demand on Monday came down to 8000 MW while 9000-10000 MW of power was available,” said a UPPCL official.

High availability of power and low demand posed a threat to the safety of the grids, the frequency of which was more than 50 hertz above the safety mark. The northern regional load dispatch centre (NRLDC) even issued a warning to the UPPCL to use as much electricity as possible to save the grid. Panicking, the power corporation not only ordered the field officials to suspend load shedding but also asked the state’s power plants to cut down on electricity generation.

“Our predicament is that we could not even sell surplus power to other states because the power load had crashed everywhere in northern India and even beyond,” said another official.